Pages

Wildfire activity and escalating suppression costs continue to threaten the financial health of federal land management agencies. In order to minimize and effectively manage the cost of financial risk, agencies need the ability to quantify that risk. A fundamental aim of this research effort, therefore, is to develop a process for generating risk-based metrics for...

A cumulative watershed effect (CWE) is any response to multiple land-use activities that is caused by, or results in, altered watershed function. The CWE issue is politically defined, as is the significance of particular impacts. But the processes generating CWEs are the traditional focus of geomorphology and ecology, and have thus been studied for decades. The CWE...

Abstract - These proceedings report on 36 years of research at the Caspar Creek Experimental Watershed, Jackson Demonstration State Forest in northwestern California. The 16 papers include discussions of streamflow, sediment production and routing, stream channel condition, soil moisture and subsurface water, nutrient cycling, aquatic and riparian habitat, streamside...

Our team was asked to analyze and comment on the existing knowledge and science related to postfire rehabilitation treatments, with particular emphasis on the known effectiveness of these treatments. The general effects of fire on Western forested landscapes are well documented (Agee 1993; DeBano and others 1998; Kozlowski and Ahlgren 1974) and have been thoroughly...

In general, it appears to be a well-considered and reasonable approach to estimating changes in peak storm runoff from forest harvesting. Our comments that follow are not comprehensive, but focus primarily on Sections 3.0 and 4.4, which are largely based on research at Caspar Creek that Bob Ziemer and Jack Lewis have authored.

Abstract - The additional strength provided by roots to the soil is generally considered to be in the form of a cohesive strength C which may range in magnitude from 1 kPa to 20 kPa. Studies of the tensile strength of tree roots show that small roots sampled from living trees range in mean tensile strength from about 10 MPa to about 60 MPa. After tree...

Summary - It has been found that two instruments will yield different numerical values when used to measure identical points. A statistical approach is presented that can be used to approximate the error associated with the calibration of instruments. Included are standard statistical tests that can be used to determine if a number of successive calibrations of the...

Abstract - It is impractical to address the long-term effect of forest management strategies on erosion, sedimentation, and the resultant damage to fish habitat experimentally because to do so would require studying large watersheds for a century or more. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted on three hypothetical 10 000 ha, fifth-order forested watersheds. One...

It is impractical to address experimentally many aspects of cumulative hydrologic effects, since to do so would require studying large watersheds for a century or more. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted using three hypothetical 10,000-ha fifth-order forested watersheds. Most of the physical processes expressed by the model are transferable from temperate to...

For years, the principal objective of evapotranspiration research has been to calculate the loss of water under varying conditions of climate, soil, and vegetation. The early simple empirical methods have generally been replaced by more detailed models which more closely represent the physical and biological processes involved. Monteith's modification of the...

Streamflow data for a 21-year period were analyzed to determine the effects of selective tractor harvesting of second-growth Douglas fir and redwood forest on the volume, timing, and duration of low flows and annual water yield in northwestern California. The flow response to logging was highly variable. Some of this variability was correlated with antecedent...

The effects of road building and timber harvest on storm flow were evaluated at the North and South Forks of Caspar Creek in north coastal California. From 1963 though 1975, a total of 174 storms that produced peak discharges larger than 0.016 Ls-1ha-1 in the untreated North Fork were studied. Storms producing flows this...

Regulations increasingly require monitoring to detect changes caused by land management activities. Successful monitoring requires that objectives be clearly stated. Once objectives are clearly identified, it is important to map out all of the components and links that might affect the issues of concern. For each issue and each component that affects that issue, there...

The title of this conference, ""Views From the Ridge"" suggests a particular scalar view of issues. From the ridge, one obtains a somewhat broad but restricted view of the landscape. Certainly, ""Views From Space"" would provide a larger spatial overview in which landscape pattern becomes a dominant theme. For an aquatic or...

The decision of where, when, and how to apply the most effective post-fire erosion mitigation treatments requires land managers to assess the risk of damaging runoff and erosion events occurring after a fire. To aid in this assessment, the Erosion Risk Management Tool (ERMiT) was developed. This user manual describes the input parameters, input interface, model...

The predicted continuation of strong drying and warming trends in the southwestern United States underlies the associated prediction of increased frequency, area, and severity of wildfires in the coming years. As a result, the management of wildfires and fire effects on public lands will continue to be a major land management priority for the foreseeable future....

Ongoing human development into fire-prone areas contributes to increasing wildfire risk to human life. It is critically important, therefore, to have the ability to characterize wildfire risk to populated places, and to identify geographic areas with relatively high risk. A fundamental component of wildfire risk analysis is establishing the likelihood of wildfire...